SERMON BODY:
(1). Jesus continues to work after the ascension.
(2). The ascended Lord Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to his people.
(3). Jesus’s ascension is his heavenly enthronement as King.
(4). Jesus’s ascension is his return to his Father.
(5). The ascended Lord Jesus is our heavenly Advocate and high priest.
(6). The ascended Lord Jesus will return as King and Judge.
SERMON OUTLINE:
Quote: Gregory of Nazianzus, A.D. 381.
• “He began His ministry by being hungry, yet He is the Bread of Life.
• Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water.
• Jesus was weary, yet He is our rest. Jesus paid tribute, yet He is the King.
• Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out demons.
• Jesus wept, yet He wipes away our tears.
• Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeemed the world.
• Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd.
• Jesus died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of death.”
• TRANSITION: In every way Jesus Christ is unique;
• He is indescribable, he is indefinable,
• He is as one translation of the Bible says (2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 15);
• “The gift too wonderful for words”.
• We reminded ourselves of that fact in our last study;
• And that is seen again in tonight’s topic ‘The Ascension’.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is unique, unparalleled, matchless:
• i.e. Jesus came into this world and went out of it in a different way from everybody else.
• i.e. Both his arrival and his departure were quite unique.
• i.e. He had no human father, either within or outside a marriage bond.
• His mother was a virgin throughout the conception, pregnancy and delivery.
• i.e. Even more astonishing,
• Jesus claimed to have chosen to be born!
• i.e. His repeated statements about his life's purpose always began with: 'I came'.
• i.e. Furthermore, he said he had come down from heaven to earth.
Note:
• Now this descent is usually referred to as his 'incarnation' (literally: 'in-flesh-ing').
• Now this was not just a move from heaven to earth;
• It was also a change of existence from the divine to the human;
• Or rather, from being God to becoming a God-man.
• The Son of God was now the Son of man.
• For the first time he had a physical body.
• He was a human being, just like us.
Then thirty-three years later he returned to where he'd come from.
• He went back up from earth to heaven.
• Christians call this his 'ascension'.
• As far as I know there is not a corresponding, a contrasting word to 'incarnation'
• Like 'excarnation', for example, literally: 'out-flesh-ing'),
• And we do not have that word for a very important, a vital reason:
• When Jesus went back to heaven he did not cease to be a man!
• The old timers used to use the expression: “There is a man in the glory”
• He did not leave his humanity behind,
• Just as he had not left his divinity behind when he came.
Ill:
• His departure was also unparalleled.
• Others leave this world on the day they die;
• he stayed around for two more months.
• Others leave this world because they are dead;
• He left very much alive.
• Others leave their bodies behind;
• He took his with him.
Note:
• When it comes to Christian doctrine;
• According to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 3-4:
• The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus take centre stage;
• We are told they are of 'first importance'.
• Maybe because the cross and empty tomb;
• Have always been at the very heart of the gospel message we proclaim,
• Maybe for many evangelical Christians and churches,
• The ascension of Jesus is simply an afterthought to Easter and Good Friday.
As you read the New Testament:
• The ascension seems to parallel the incarnation;
• In the sense that we do not have too much information or emphasis on it;
• But it happened and it was essential that it happened.
Ill:
• Take the four Gospels.
• Matthew does not mention the ascension at all,
• Mark's Gospel, contains the single phrase:
• 'He was taken up into heaven' (Mark chapter 16 verse 19).
• Luke's Gospel and his book of Acts give the most detail,
• But only a few verses in both records.
• John’s gospel, doesn't mention the ascension itself,
• But records Jesus' own prediction of it after the resurrection:
• 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God'
• (John chapter 20 verse 17; note 'returning' not 'going').
Ill:
• The New Testament Letters,
• Seem to assume the fact of the ascension, without describing it.
• For example the apostle Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 10;
• The Lord Jesus Christ is 'the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens'
• In 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16: who was 'taken up in glory'
• The apostle Peter in his first letter (1 Peter chapter 3 verse 22) writes:
• Jesus is the one 'who has gone into heaven'.
• For the anonymous author of the letter to the Hebrews tells us that:
• Jesus has 'gone through the heavens' (Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14)
• and is now 'exalted above the heavens' (Hebrews chapter 7 verse 26).
• The point is that from all these letters we learn nothing about the ascension itself,
• Only what it led to.
Ill:
• The book of Acts.
• The book of Acts is the history book of the early Church;
• It is the essential link between the Gospels and New Testament Letters;
• This book contains the fullest description of the ascension;
• Significantly, it is penned by the same doctor, Luke, who wrote the Gospel.
• And Luke was also at times a companion to the apostle Paul on his missionary journey.
• So we are grateful to Dr Like for providing literary as well as historical continuity.
• From his two records we have all the information we need about;
• When, why, where and how it happened.
Now the Ascension is a truth hard to grasp;
• Because it is beyond the scope of human experience.
• It takes us into the realm of the supernatural.
• It happened very simply and quickly.
• Jesus and his followers were gathered on the slopes the Mount of Olives;
• Which is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to the Jerusalem's Old City
• When Jesus had delivered his farewell message to the disciples;
• He lifted up his nail-scarred hands in blessing.
• Then his body commenced to rise supernaturally,
• And a cloud bore him out of their sight.
• Note: By visibly going up into the air,
• Jesus made it clear that he wasn't just disappearing - he was going to heaven!
Question: Why a cloud?
Answer:
• At certain times during Bible History, the Presence of almighty God;
• Appeared to humans with, or within, a cloud, or clouds.
• i.e. The "pillar of cloud" that accompanied The Tabernacle In The Wilderness,
• (Exodus chapter 40 verse 38)
• i.e. God came to Moses in a ‘thick cloud’ on top Mount Sinai;
• When The Ten Commandments were given;
• (Exodus chapter 19 verse 9&16)
• i.e. God appeared in a cloud at the Transfiguration event;
• Where He announced to Peter, James and John that Jesus Christ was His Son:
• (Matthew chapter 17 verse 1-9
• There are many other examples where a cloud signifies the presence of God.
• (Make an interesting little study)
• Here in the ascension account;
• I believe the cloud is telling us (signifying to us) that Jesus did not go in to space;
• From one atmosphere into another.
• But rather from one dimension into another;
• From earth to the heaven where God dwells!
• So the ascension showed the disciples;
• Jesus going from one dimension to another;
Question: Why is the ascension significant?
Answer: Six reasons why.
(1). Jesus continues to work after the ascension.
We read in Acts chapter 1 verses 1–2:
“In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven”
• That small but important word ‘began’ signals to us;
• That Jesus’s ascension does not mark the cessation;
• But the continuation of his work as Lord and Messiah.
• That’s what Luke’s second book is all about, the “Acts of the risen Lord Jesus,”
• Which he works from heaven, through his people,
• By the Holy Spirit, for the accomplishment of God’s purposes.
Note:
• As far as salvation is concerned the work of Jesus Christ is completed, it is finished;
• It cannot be added to or improved in any way,
• Yet the book of Acts and the New Testament;
• Shows us the work of Jesus Christ continues;
• As he works through his people (the Church) by the power of the Holy Spirit,
• Accomplishing God’s purposes.
These early verses of chapter 1 show to us the Trinity (the Godhead) working in harmony:
WE HAVE JESUS THE SON OF GOD:
• Seen by the disciples (vs 3)
• “he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive”
• Instructing the disciples (vs 2)
• “…giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen”
• Commissioning the disciples (vs 8)
• “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
WE HAVE GOD THE FATHER:
• The Father’s Kingdom (vs 4):
• “…spoke about the kingdom of God”
• The Father’s promised gift (vs 4b):
• “…but wait for the gift my Father promised”
• The Father’s sovereignty (7)
• “‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority”
WE HAVE GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT:
• The Holy Spirit teaches (vs 2):
• “…after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit…”
• The Holy Spirit indwells (vs 5):
• “you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’”
• The Holy Spirit empowers (vs 8):
• “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you”
(which leads us in to the next point)
(2). The ascended Lord Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to his people.
• In his gospel, Luke records a promise that Jesus made;
• (Luke chapter 24 verse 49):
• We are perhaps more familiar with the similar promise in John’s gospel chapter 14)
“I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high”
• In his sermon on the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter explains,
• (Acts chapter 2 verse 33).
“Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing”
• Jesus always keeps his promises!
• The ascended Lord sent the Spirit to be present with his people.
Ill:
• During his earthly ministry Jesus’s work was geographically limited;
• It had to be because he had and still has a body.
• e.g. he didn’t teach in Ethiopia while at the same time healing somebody in China.
• But now he is at work everywhere and able to hear;
• And respond to his people’s prayers no matter the time or place.
(3). Jesus’s ascension is his heavenly enthronement as King.
• At Jesus’s ascension he is installed as the true king of the world.
• According to the Apostles’ Creed,
• He “ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.”
Ill:
In Grand Prix terms we might say he is on the winning podium!
Note: the use of language in these verses:
• Jesus is taken up to heaven in a cloud (Acts chapter 1 verses 9–11),
• And Stephen just before his martyrdom declares that he sees Jesus;
• The Son of Man standing at the right hand of God (Acts chapter 7 verse 56).
• Many scholars believe these verses suggest that Jesus’s ascension;
• Fulfils the important prophecy of Daniel chapter 7 verse 13 to chapter 14 verse 3.
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
• Thus God’s kingdom has been inaugurated through the enthronement of Jesus,
• Who now sits on heaven’s throne;
• And will return to consummate his kingdom on earth as in heaven.
(4). Jesus’s ascension is his return to his Father.
• Before and after his death and resurrection;
• Jesus declares that he was sent by his Father and must return to his Father:
i.e. John chapter 16 verse 28 & chapter 13 verses 1&3):
“I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
i.e. John chapter 20 verse 17:
Jesus said to Mary, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Quote:
“There has been no sweeter reunion in the history of the world than Jesus’s return to his Father!
Perhaps the closest analogy is a courageous, wounded soldier returning to his loved ones after a hard-fought victory.”
• Jesus fully accomplished his mission and glorified the Father on earth,
• And at his ascension the Father glorifies the Son in heaven.
• (John chapter 17 verses 4–5).
• This truth gives every believer hope!
• What are the words we so often read at a funeral?
• The words of John chapter 14 verses 2–4:
“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
(5). The ascended Lord Jesus is our heavenly Advocate and high priest.
• Every Christian has an advocate – who represents us legally.
• Every Christian has a priest– who sympathises with our weakness!
• An advocate is one who speaks up for and pleads the cause of another.
• A Priest is one who intercedes and speaks to God on behalf of the people.
• Jesus holds those two offices in heaven.
Ill:
• Within the universe as we know it there are scientific laws that permanently govern our world;
• i.e. Newton's law of universal gravitation.
• i.e. Archimedes' principle
• i.e. Kepler's laws of planetary motion.
• i.e. The four laws of thermodynamics.
• Permanent laws of science that cannot and will not change;
• As those permanent laws govern our world;
• So Jesus will permanently govern and remain in his heavenly offices.
• No one can ever take the office of Jesus from him;
• On earth he served men and gave his life for them;
• In Heaven he still exists to make intercession for them – he is our ‘Advocate’.
Quote Ivor Powell:
"Our advocate stands in the court of heaven, and he doesn't plead our innocence!
but shows the wounds in his hands".
• Every Christian has an advocate – who represents us legally.
• Every Christian has a priest– who sympathises with our weakness!
Quote: Hebrews chapter 4 verses 14-16:
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,[f] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
(6). The ascended Lord Jesus will return as King and Judge.
• Read again those words of the two angelic beings in Acts chapter 1 verse 11;
• They explain to the disciples:
“This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
• Jesus’s heavenly reign will one day be fully realized on earth
• (Revelation chapter 11 verse 15 & chapter 19 verses 10–16 & chapter 22 verse 3).
• i.e. This is the very thing Christians ask for whenever they pray the Lord’s prayer;
• “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”
• (Matthew chapter 6verse 10).
• At his return, the Lord Jesus will execute divine judgment,
• Vindicating his downtrodden people and judging his enemies.
Conclusion:
• Though often overlooked, the ascension completes Jesus’s earthly mission;
• And signifies his enthronement as heavenly king.
• Jesus has completed his Father’s mission;
• And he now rules with all authority.
• He intercedes with all sympathy as our mediator and high priest.
Audio Link:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=F9jmtzZv4eNiaWb4gulULwG95FFkZJAg
